NORWALK – State Attorney General William Tong told Norwalk residents, elected officials, and community organizations that no matter what the incoming Trump administration tries the State of Connecticut will do everything it can to defend local immigrants.
“It is the policy and law of Connecticut, speaking as your attorney general, to respect, honor and protect immigrants and immigrant families,” Tong told a packed Norwalk City Concert Hall Wednesday evening. “And that is what we are going to do. This is not a controversial statement.”
The attorney general explained the constitutionality of state and local governments “doing their job” separate from the federal government. “This is the sovereign state of Connecticut joined by our consent in a federation known as the United States of America,” he said. “But when we joined by our consent to be part of the union, Connecticut never gave up its fundamental rights and powers to decide how we’re going to live as a state and a people.”
The meeting was called for by Mayor Harry Rilling and such community partners as Building One Community, Catholic Charities and the city’s community services department. In addition to residents, it was attended by members of the Common Council, board of education, and state legislators.
A first-generation immigrant himself, Tong passionately laid out a plan for concerned immigrants living in Connecticut as Jan. 20, 2025 rolls around. That is the date Donald Trump starts his second term as President of the U.S. and also the date he promises to begin deporting millions of immigrants.
“This isn’t about other people, which is easy to compartmentalize and put over here,” Tong said. “It’s about us. When I was a kid growing up in West Hartford and as I got older, I got to understand why the hell I was brought up in Hartford, Connecticut.
“It was because my parents and my grandparents ran for their lives. They ran from the Japanese. They ran from the Communists. They did everything they could to seek shelter and safety to build a new life for themselves in someplace completely far away from what they could imagine.”
He said it became very real to him that he was not just the son and grandson of immigrants, but that he was nothing if not the son and grandson of refugees.
Mayor Rilling, who had served as the city’s police chief for 17 years, had his top city executive hat on Wednesday night as he tried to persuade residents while life might be difficult for immigrants starting next month his administration will be right there to help.
“We know that the immigrant community contributes to our economy, contributes to our tax base, opens small businesses,” Rilling said. “We want to give the immigrant community all the information you may need in order to protect yourself and know what your rights are.”
The Trust Act
The current Police Chief, James Walsh, described how a state law passed in 2013 and strengthened in 2019 during President Trump’s first term gives local law enforcement agencies the specific guidelines to protect undocumented immigrants living and working in Norwalk.
“The Trust Act of 2013 created guidelines for how law enforcement agencies in Connecticut cooperate with U.S ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement),” Walsh said. “The Trust Act prohibits Connecticut law enforcement from cooperating or arresting or detaining a person unless three situations arise:
- The detainer is accompanied by a warrant issued by a judicial officer
- The individual has been convicted by a Class A or B felony
- The individual is identified as a possible match in the federal terrorist database.”
Like a checks and balances system, the Trust Act gave “oversight on specific bureaucracies or law enforcement agencies [in Connecticut] to limit their information sharing with ICE,” Kris Klein Hernández, an assistant professor of history at Connecticut College, told Connecticut Public Radio in a Nov. 22 article
Walsh went on to state that the Norwalk Police Department “maintains a strong relationship with the immigration community. We want to remind the immigration community to come to us if they believe they have been a victim of a crime because they are immigrant. We are here to help.”
How to prepare
Michael Donoghue, executive director of Catholic Charities of Fairfield County, offered some advice for immigrants living in the state.
“Whenever there is fear and uncertainty, there’s always people who prey on that fear and uncertainty,” Donoghue said. “So, please speak to someone who is an accredited immigration representative. We have a great team at Catholic Charities that provides affordable legal services.
“There’s a number of notarios who represent themselves as qualified to offer legal advice or services concerning immigration. They say, ‘I can get you citizenship before Jan. 20. Here, fill out this paperwork and give me $5,000 and I will get you citizenship in two weeks.’ That doesn’t happen. That could increase your chance of getting deported.”
Schools Superintendent Alexandra Estrella told the audience at the community meeting she is working with school district counsel to develop protocols for addressing issues that may come up involving immigrant students and their families.
“We are in the process of engaging our legal counsel to make sure protocols are put in place to support our school leaders are effective and aligned to the current legal guidelines because we have uncertainties as to what will happen after Jan. 20,” Estrella said. “We are focused on training our school leaders, who in turn will work with our teachers and other personnel.
“And we are working with our school counselors and social workers to support the teachers to address the social and emotional concerns that have been arising around the district at large.”
Another issue that was brought up by an audience member representing Norwalk Community College was what matriculating noncitizen students should do before Jan. 20.
“If you are a noncitizen student and you are out of the country, you should come back now,” Tong said. “And if you are here, whatever you need to get your student affairs in order, your housing in order, you should do that now. That includes student loans and credit cards.”
The attorney general will next address residents, elected officials, and community agencies in Bridgeport in early January, according to Donoghue.
